What Media player?

[Chromey]

After having countless issues streaming video from my PC/DVD player Im ready too buy a media player.

My biggest issue is the file not showing up on my TV when I connect too my Media computer.

Please make suggestions.
Must play most to all formats

[lowfat]

What is your budget?

[Chromey]

Never thought about it.
Lets say Im open Unless its retarted.
Im not looking too build a Media box either

[JD]

Although not officially supported in Canada (yet), Google Chromecast would be an option. If you want to play locally stored media though, you'd have to run Plex (and subscribe to PlexPass) for the time being. I'm impressed with the ease Chromecast provides for streaming Netflix, Hulu and YouTube onto my TV.

You can find the Chromecast pretty easily on Amazon and eBay with sellers who ship up here. Ends up being about $60.

Otherwise, you're looking at something like the WD TV or Roku, both running $110 or so.

[Keywork]

+1 for WD Live.

[Bond007]

If you want streaming media then Roku (though don't expect what there is available in the US).

If you want to play many different file formats and have better compatibility with playing from usb sticks etc, then WD live.

[Nodscene]

It comes down a lot to personal preference but I'm a big fan of the Mede8er stuff. Compares to the Dune and Popcorn Hour players but cheaper and usually more frequent firmware updates compared to most companies. I bought the top of the line MED100X3D (only available through a US site) and it was close to $300. After all the researching I've done I've found the biggest decisions are which chipset you want to go with (Realtek or Sigma), which version of the chipset you want as each have their own issues which limits the media player, and one of the most important ones is how active the company is in putting out firmware to fix what they can or give workarounds when either Realtek or Sigma refuse release new SDK's (containing bugfixes). I guess the last decision is whether you want all the extra stuff like Netflix, Hulu etc, etc. I've found that the more expensive a player gets the less chance you will get the big name stuff like Netflix. The reasoning behind this is that Netflix has specific rules in place concerning what you are allowed to do with the media player and what you aren't allowed to do. As you can imagine quite a few of the companies have given the middle finger to Netflix etc haha.

I have no experience with WD Live or Roku but I can say to stay away from any of the Asus offerings. Poor support and a horrible experience overall.

Mede8er MED1000X3D, MED600X3D, MED500X2 - The greatest show on earth

[WiseWilson]

WD Live is probably the most compatible device on the market for local files and Roku 3 has better streaming options as I understand it.

I have an original roku and find it still streams great though I gave up on it playing local files as it can't handle some common codecs from what I remember. The newer ones can play more.
The PS3 with a ps3 media server is all I use on the main TV. I found it displays my photo galleries fine and it translates video files with a high success rate but I don't download and watch a lot of media.

But Chromey what is your current setup? I mean a lot of people just plug their laptops in nowadays, if they don't care about the look or have a space setup for them and grab a windows remote.

[Rogerramjet112]

+1 for Boxee.
I stream across the house onto my Plasma no issues. I use Boxee media Manager.

[dustin1706]

Big fan of my Roku 3. Seems to play every format I have via USB or streamed from my server with Plex. RF remote w/ audio jack is nice as well.